Abstract
The unusual situation that arose due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 65-day fishing ban (national policy to boost depleted fish stocks) affected the lower-income fishing communities in coastal Bangladesh. Shocks and stresses were posed, and community people adopted strategies to adapt to the changes. In the process of adaptation, social-ecological systems resilience at different levels plays a crucial role. Though resilience is acknowledged as multilevel feature, studies on the interaction between the levels while understanding communities’ responses to shock and stress are limited. Thus, in this study, we explored the shocks and stresses the fishing community faced and their views on the resilience feature at different levels (i.e., individual, household, and community level) in coastal Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic and 65-day fishing ban period. The study found that the most resilience promoting features (e.g., diversified livelihood, friendship, and network of supports) were adopted at the individual and household levels. However, positive and negative interactions were explored between resilience features at all levels. Low community-level resilience was not translated into a lack of household-level resilience, and strong individual-level resilience did not mean high household-level resilience. It was noted that the increased resilience of a particular individual or household could negatively affect community resilience. Resilience features showed inconsistent interactions within or among the three levels’ resilience features. The study also revealed that multilevel resilience features stressed the importance of combining persistence (i.e., keeping fishing as the main livelihood) and adaptation process (e.g., livelihood diversification). The study showcases the importance of considering multilevel resilience that offers insight into crucial resilience factors which would not be evident if only one level were studied. The overall finding of this study will contribute to framing governance strategies to ensure sustainable coastal management even in the time of any abrupt or expected changes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the fishing ban policy.
Highlights
The marine fisheries sector constitutes a critical element of socio-economic support for the people in Bangladesh (Al Arif, 2017), as this country stands 12th in finfish production from marine and coastal aquaculture (FAO, 2020a)
The main objective of this present study was to investigate the multilevel resilience of the small-scale fishing community of coastal Bangladesh at the individual, household, and community levels and their interactions under the shocks and stresses caused by the changes
A total of 100 households were selected with support from Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) and Coastal Association for Social Transformation Trust (COAST Trust) — local NGOs primarily work in the coastal areas of Bangladesh and partners of Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF)
Summary
The marine fisheries sector constitutes a critical element of socio-economic support for the people in Bangladesh (Al Arif, 2017), as this country stands 12th in finfish production from marine and coastal aquaculture (FAO, 2020a). Small-scale fishers, an integral part of maritime fisheries, typically live in coastal communities and catch fish mainly using conventional techniques and facilities (Alam et al, 2021). They depend on knowledge passed on to their local communities through generations (Rahman, 2017). Many drivers of changes, such as climate change, habitat alteration, and national policies, affect the livelihoods of the small-scale fishing community (Jentoft and Chuenpagdee, 2015; Berkes and Ross, 2016; Nayak and Berkes, 2019; Lazzari et al, 2021; Selim et al, 2021). Recent examples of such drivers of change in Bangladesh include the COVID-19 pandemic and the 65-day fishing ban — a national policy action to boost depleted fish stocks
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